Tragic Details About HGTV Star Ben Napier's Childhood

Along with his wife, Erin Napier, Ben Napier has been the star of HGTV's "Home Town" since 2016. The couple also operates multiple brick-and-mortar businesses, including Laurel Mercantile Co. Given their success, it's not surprising that the Napiers live a really lavish lifestyle. However, it wasn't always that way. 

When Ben was a child, his family struggled to make ends meet. "My dad, he was a big farmer. He had this weird bank loan situation that is actually an illegal loan — they can't do them anymore," Ben explained on the "WHOA That's Good Podcast" in 2025. "My perspective on heartache and loss was from watching my parents lose and rebuild and start over."

Ben has two older brothers, and the family's finances were strained even further when his younger brother, Jesse Napier, unexpectedly arrived. However, the Napiers took advantage of sales and bulk buys to keep their brood fed. Long before Ben took up woodworking, his father showed off his own creative skills, building toys for his kids out of upcycled materials. Eventually, Ben's dad, Wayne Napier, switched careers, becoming a truck driver.

Although commercial driving proved lucrative for Wayne Napier, he eventually decided to pivot careers once again, even though it placed his family in a precarious position economically. "It was impactful for me because, there he was, giving everything up," Ben Napier explained to Country Living. "We sold our farm." Wayne became a preacher in the United Methodist church, and Ben's mom, Bennie Napier, did too. While that job had the huge benefit of included housing, the downside was that some homes were better quality than others. The family also ended up moving frequently.

Wayne's example proved to be a powerful guiding force in Ben's life on more than one occasion. After Wayne needed heart surgery in 2014, he encouraged his sons to prioritize healthy lifestyle choices to counter their risk of heart disease. Within a few years, after he became a parent himself, Ben embarked on a major weight-loss transformation. He switched up his diet and even constructed his own home gym to work out in. 

Career-wise, Ben followed in his father's footsteps, first working as a youth minister. Just like Wayne, Ben did some soul-searching and later decided it was time to go in another direction. After contemplating jobs ranging from teaching to politics, he decided to focus on woodworking. Around the same time, he and Erin Napier received an offer to shoot the "Home Town" pilot. "It felt like an affirmation that I had done the right thing," Ben later recalled to Qolture.